Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Warnings: Although this particular chapter doesn't contain any manga spoilers, later ones will. Also, at least one of the upcoming chapters will have a lemon, so this fic is rated M.

Important Note: This story is going to be a series of stand-alone drabbles, with each one focusing on a different pairing. Planned pairings at this point include: NaruHina (this chapter), SasuSaku, PeinKonan, JiraiyaTsunade, and TemaShika. Since I've never written a story centered around a pairing before, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated—but please don't flame me just because you happen to dislike a pairing I picked. Remember, each chapter will focus on a different pairing, so there should be something for everyone.

True Love

Chapter 1: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Neji had said once that actions spoke louder than words. "I think you have changed, Hinata-sama," he'd said. "You've become a lot stronger, and a lot more determined. I think…the change started when you fought me during the Chuunin Exams. Do you remember? At first, you were trembling and looked like you wanted nothing more than to run out of the arena and never come back. But then, you activated your bloodline limit and moved into the Jyuuken stance. The moment you showed that you were ready to fight, that was when I knew you'd changed. Your actions showed it more strongly than any words possibly could have."

In this case, it looked like she might have to resort to action, because words were just not working. "Um…Naruto-kun?" She pushed her index fingers together in the fidgety gesture she always made when nervous.

"Hi, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned that grin that always made her weak in the knees.

"Um…I w-was wondering…if…if you…"

"Yes?" Naruto was blinking as though curious to hear what she had to say.

He's paying attention to me! "I was wondering…if maybe…we could…" She trailed off again. She could fight enemy ninjas without flinching, for Heaven's sake, why couldn't she finish a simple sentence?

"If we could what?" Now Naruto looked confused. He was squinting his eyes and squinching up his face as though trying to figure out what was going on.

"Well…I know you've b-been training really hard…and you m-must get really hungry…" She had been intending to ask him out to dinner at one of the local ramen shops—maybe Ichiraku, she knew he liked that one. But she just couldn't get the words out!

Maybe this was one of those times Neji had been talking about, when actions would be more effective than words?

Hinata took a deep breath. She started to feel light-headed, but she ruthlessly pushed the feeling aside. She was going to do this, and nothing was going to get in her way. She placed her hands gently on Naruto's shoulders, and felt like jumping for joy when he didn't pull away.

Then she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Hi-Hinata-chan?" For once, Naruto was the one stuttering. "Is this…why you're always so nervous around me? Is it because you…liked me?"

Hinata nodded. Somehow, it seemed easier to speak now. She'd kissed Naruto, and the world hadn't collapsed. "Do you want to get dinner at Ichiraku Ramen sometime?"

Naruto grinned more widely than she'd thought possible—and she'd spent a lot of time observing his grins. "Sure! How about tomorrow night, around 7? That's when I get done training with Kakashi-sensei."

Hinata nodded vigorously, and smiled.

A/N: My friends and I have been saying for a while that the only way Naruto will figure out that Hinata likes him is if she just walks up to him one day and kisses him. So this was meant to be a story about that scenario.

As I said in the note at the beginning, this is the first time I've tried to write a fic in which the pairing was central to the story. As such, I would love to get some feedback so that I can get better at writing things like this.